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Gain of function as as we're currently capable of is incredibly inefficient because it's an iterative process involving chance mutation.
This whole pandemic is likely a mild preview of what biological weapons humanity will be capable of in the future. Our understanding of genetics is so rudimentary, yet it's not just possible, but probable that our ability to precisely engineer organisms and diseases will advance way beyond today's capabilities.
CRISPR promises to make gene editing cheap and easy; like someone in a modest lab in their basement can do it. CRISPR afterall is a process that nature stumbled upon all by herself. We're just now learning that trick, and we have the advantage of intention.
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